The Indian Students’ Association sold out the Stamp Grand Ballroom and brought in more than $1,000 at their annual Fall Charity Dinner.
There were around 450 people in attendance, and 100 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales went to charity. This year, the two organizations that the executive board selected were A Wider Circle and HIPS.
“This is a huge turnout, it’s incredibly successful,” said Kanak Jha, one of two ISA freshmen executives and the event’s co-host. “It’s great to see people who aren’t even Indian coming out and supporting an ISA event.”
So many people purchased tickets that at one point there weren’t enough seats available at tables.
“I think we even had a few people sitting on the floor eating,” said Jha.
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At the evening’s peak, the Grand Ballroom was full. (Photo courtesy of Alio Graphics)[/caption]
As one of the most established cultural groups on campus, ISA typically maintains that level of attendance at events, according to Ashmi Sheth, the organization’s president.
“This our largest event by far, but many of our other events still have 200, maybe 300 students there,” said Sheth. “It couldn’t have been done without our freshman committee and the board. We all worked really hard selling those tickets.”
Vice president of finance, Avinash Satish, echoed her sentiments, adding how proud he was of the cooperation ISA members to ensure that everything went smoothly.
“Hosting an event like this is hard to manage but our board, our freshman committee and everyone put together, we worked as hard as we could to make everything flow efficiently,” he said.
Several award-winning student groups performed throughout the night, including Maryland Dhoom, TerraPind Bhangra and UMD EntouRaas. Prima Dolls also made their first appearance at the dinner.
“It was such an awesome experience just watching [the performances] on the sidelines,” said Teju Peesay, the second freshmen executive and co-host. “All of the Indian dances we had today showed how there are lots of different parts of Indian culture, and I think that’s such a good experience for people who don’t know much about India.”
ISA’s senior adviser, Kushaan Shah, said he was extremely impressed with both the amount and the variety of culture that was showcased.
“It’s an event that’s continuously growing, and I think it’s fantastic that more and more people are finding the value of Indian food and Indian culture,” said Shah.
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Members of the Freshman Committee serve food. (Photo courtesy of Alio Graphics)[/caption]
Karan Singh, a sophomore information systems and finance major, agreed with Shah, and added that he was very excited to see the number of people who weren’t Indian that showed up.
“There’s way more diversity than I ever thought there would be,” he said. “It’s cool to see how many people are interested in Indian culture that aren’t just Indian.”
ISA also hosts a charity dinner in spring, but it has always been on a smaller scale compared to its fall counterpart. However, Jha, Peesay and Sheth all mentioned that they will do everything in their power to achieve just as much success next semester.
All images for this story shot by Preet Mandavia for Alio Graphics.
